Monash Warwick Research Alliance: Developing Transdisciplinary Partnerships for Urban Water Transformations

Sustainable development is a key research and education priority for both Monash and Warwick. While this research theme is spearheaded through Monash’s Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) and Warwick’s Institute of Global Sustainable Development (IGSD), it is a transdisciplinary endeavour that cuts across many disciplines and research themes, and critically involves partnerships with government, industry and communities.

Professor Rob Raven, Deputy Director (Research), MSDI and Professor João Porto de Albuquerque, Director, IGSD, are united in their common goal to develop a roadmap to establishing a research platform that addresses key challenges of planetary health, and builds on existing strengths.

The researchers will be conducting a pilot project to explore together the social and physical factors that impact the health and livelihoods of vulnerable communities. The intention is that this will pave the way to a large scale, action research program in Indonesia.

The Citarum River is the longest and largest river in West Java, Indonesia and arguably the dirtiest river in the world. It is vital for 25 million people, who daily depend on it for agriculture, water and electricity. It is also the source of water for the Jatiluhur Reservoir, Indonesia’s largest reservoir (3 billion cubic meters of storage capacity), that supplies water for Bandung and Jakarta, as well as irrigating 400,000 hectares of rice fields, and is the source of energy for three hydroelectric power stations serving three cities.

Informed by in-country engagement and pilot research outcomes and insights, the project will serve to advance thinking on specific challenges of vulnerable communities, the role of transdisciplinary research in in sustainable development of vulnerable communities, and inform the development of a large, research alliance between Warwick, Monash and partners in Indonesia for the next 10-20 years.